22 Stable Management and the Prevention of Disease 



Wetting Geass. 



Grass-cutters sometimes wash the grass and bring it home 

 when half dry. It is then of a brighter colour and heavier 

 than when unwashed. This practice should on no account 

 be permitted. 



Standing grass is not injured by rain or water rising into 

 it gently ; but when it has been cut, beaten to free it from 

 earth, then tied in bundles and carried for miles, it is so 

 bruised that the outer shell and sap-vessels are broken. 

 Water then washes away a quantity of the sap, and penetrat- 

 ing into the interior of the stalks and blades causes rapid 

 decomposition, which can only be stopped by the grass being 

 spread out thinly and quickly dried. If this precaution be 

 neglected the decomposition is liable to continue after the 

 grass is eaten, and cause bad attacks of colic. Even when 

 not wet, green grass ought always to be opened and spread 

 out to dry shortly after it is brought home, for if left in 

 bundles several hours it is Liable to at least a slight amount 

 of injurious fermentation. During the rainy season and 

 early part of the cold weather there is an additional 

 reason. The grass is so full of moisture that it has a ten- 

 dency to bring the horses into soft condition. The best 

 plan then is to make such an arrangement that the grass- 

 cutters may come home with their loads by midday at the 

 latest. The bundles should at once be weighed, and after- 

 wards examined to find out whether they contain too much 

 earth, or weeds, or swamp grass. They should then be spread 

 out and left to dry until the next day before being given to the 

 horses. In the hot weather from March to the commence- 

 ment of the rains, the grass, unless grown on moist land, 

 requires no drying, and may be given shortly after it is cut. 



Quantity of Grass foe each Hoese. 



The quantity required by each horse depends partly upon 

 the breed and other peculiarities of the animal, and of course 

 partly upon the quality of the grass itself. 



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